Shop: Footlight Dancewear Shop
Store Owners: Taina Schorin-Keltto and Enni Schorin
Location: Helsinki, Finland
What is your background, and what led you to start your business?
Footlight is a family owned business, started by Taina Schorin-Keltto in 1993. Taina is a tap dance teacher who also started her own dance studio which has grown into one of the largest dance studios in Finland. She was struggling to find good tap shoes in Finland, so she started importing Capezio tap shoes for her students and herself.
The word about the great quality products spread, so Taina and her husband decided to expand their business and open a store that would sell great quality dance products for all dancers around Finland. Since Taina had used Capezio products throughout her career and trusted them, it was clear that she would continue her relationship with Capezio.
Taina's daughter, Enni Schorin, who has danced all her life, started working at the store as a summer associate and quickly fell in love with the business. Enni has taught dance and danced professionally, but her passion was always in making sure other dancers could find the best possible products for themselves. Enni is now part owner of the store.
Taina Schorin-Keltto of Footlight Danceshop, Helsinki Finland; Photo: Merja Forsman
What keeps you going and doing what you're doing as store owners?
We keep each other going. As a close family, we take care of each other and make sure everyone in our family, including our employees, is doing well. As a mother/daughter team, we have different areas of expertise, and we feed off of each other's knowledge to provide even better service for our customers.
What do you love most about providing dancewear to your community?
The best feeling is knowing that our store and the service we provide has been an essential part of a dancer's journey into dance. It is an honor to be trusted by the dancers in our community.
What are some favorite brands that your store carries, and why?
We carry the full line of Capezio and Gaynor Minden products. We are the exclusive importers of these brands in Finland and the Baltic countries. We have tested all of the brands out there, and since our policy is to only sell products we feel 100% confident in, we chose a long time ago to focus on these brands.
What sets your store apart from other dancewear retailers, and why?
Our passion for dance and dancewear and our willingness to learn from our dancers. We constantly ask for feedback about our products and the needs of our dancers so that we can make sure we offer them the products they truly need.
We also constantly educate ourselves on what is happening in the dance and dancewear industries so that we can give our dancers the latest information. We are also the most qualified pointe fitters in our region. We do fitting tours around Finland and the Baltic countries to make sure even the areas that do not have dancewear stores get the best products possible.
Enni is currently our most experienced pointe shoe fitter. She has taken all of her knowledge of pointe shoes and designed her own style of pointe shoe in collaboration with Capezio. This shoe combines the amazing quality of Capezio pointe shoes with the design knowledge of a master pointe shoe fitter. This shoe has taken 3 years of designing and testing to get it to where Enni wanted it to be, and it is being launched at the beginning of June 2021.
Enni Schorin of Footlight Danceshop in Helsinki, Finland
Are there any new dancewear and/or accessory trends you’ve noticed lately?Finnish dancers are very aware of the quality and origin of the products they use. They want their products to be made from sustainable materials and in factories where workers are treated fairly. They choose quality products that will last them longer.
What are some of your best-selling products?
Pointe shoes, ballet slippers, dance sneakers and jazz shoes. Tap shoes and ballroom shoes are also very popular.
Many dancers struggle to find pointe shoes that fit correctly and flatter their feet. Do you have any advice for finding the perfect pair of pointe shoes?
Find a good fitter who really knows what they are talking about. A fitter with a lot of knowledge can usually help you choose the correct shoe and will make you try on shoes that you wouldn't normally think could work for you. A good fitter will know their own products, and they can even give you advice on what brands to try if their store doesn't carry the best shoe for you.
In your opinion, is there a “must-have” item for any dancer or specific type of dancer?
Every dancers needs to have that one pair of shoes that they can always trust, no matter what. Putting those shoes on right before going on stage or into class will give you that extra boost of confidence and make sure you'll hit all the right turns, jumps, kicks, and counts.
What made you make the decision to carry Pointe Paint?
We wanted to give our customers the option to be able to easily customize their shoes, and Pointe Paint was the best option for us.
What’s one thing you want customers to know about you and/or your store?
We truly care about the needs of our dancers. We love it when they come into our store with a problem, and we are able to help them solve it.
Is there anything else you'd like to share with the PointePeople community?Keep dancing, you are all making the world a better place through your movement!
Contact information:
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Phone: +358 9 647 225
Email: kauppa@footlight.fi
Instagram: @tanssitarvikeliikefootlight | Facebook
